I finally get Aquaman. Well, not finally but pre-new 52 I did not
see the appeal to the character. Don’t
get me wrong I never had a problem with him.
In fact I was the rare fan that didn’t make the Aquaman jokes or just
dismissed the character. The truth is I
didn’t know a lot about him and no one had ever gotten me really interested before. But like Hal Jordan and Barry Allen before,
Geoff Johns helped me see the awesomeness of Arthur Curry. The best parts of Brightest Day to me were
the Aquaman scenes. I was always begging
for more. Between Johns’ writing and
Ivan’s pencils and Joe’s finishes I was blown away. But to be honest, it didn’t prepare me for
what would become one of my favorite series from the new 52.
I remember the day the first issue came out. I was so excited because I was hoping Johns,
Reis, and Prado would continue on the character and that was the plan in the
new 52. When that day rolled around my
store was SOLD OUT. I got there at 1130AM. They had been open since 10AM! Gone!
The worst part was that it was my fault!
I had forgotten to update my pull list!
I couldn’t believe I had done that.
But thank goodness for DC’s new same day digital policy. All I had to do was wait a couple of more
hours and I would be able to read it.
Now let me go off on a personal tangent here. This
was also the same day where I was set up on a blind date by a friend of
mine. I was very, very excited. I was not nervous. I was just ready to finally date again. It had been two years since I broke up with
my last girlfriend. I had a few dates
but nothing serious. This was, in my
mind, the first time in a long time I would have a nice dinner, a nice conversation,
and maybe it would be the first step to a new relationship. I had felt so lonely that I was determined to
make a great impression. BUT during the
day I received a text from her saying that her ex-boyfriend was gonna come over
and they were gonna try to work things out.
Well fuck me . . . Ironically
enough, the friend that hooked us up said at that moment, “Hey you excited for
your date tonight?” I showed her the text and she flipped out. I just brushed it off and texted the girl
back saying that I thought she was making a mistake but I understood. My friend (and everyone else) excused me of
being too nice. The truth was I
completely understood her point of view.
Her ex was “the love of her life” and she wanted so badly for it to work
out. I had been in that position
before. Even have the scars on my heart
to prove it.
At that point I felt like such crap I needed to walk
away from my desk (oh yeah I was at work during this whole thing including the
not getting Aquaman [during my lunch break]) haha – fuck I’m bad at stories . .
.). Anyway, I was finally able to
download the first issue of Aquaman! I
figured if nothing else a good Geoff Johns comic would help to cheer me
up. But I was wrong. The comic didn’t cheer me up – it inspired
and excited me! At that moment I finally
got Aquaman. Here is a character that
goes to great lengths to save the world, fight the bad guys, etc and is a
laughing stock. I can honestly say that
no other character affected me the way that he did. He’s powerful, he’s a king, he’s part of the
Justice League, but nobody respects him.
He’s just trying to do the right thing and live his life and he’s laughed
at. That was me a year ago reading that issue.
I felt like I was useless. I felt my time on this Earth was for
nothing. I wasn’t laughed at necessarily
but I felt like nobody respected me.
Here was a chance for me to have a date and maybe it would go somewhere
special. It was thrown in my face with a
weak apology. What purpose did I have if
I couldn’t be good enough for someone to notice me? This is what went through my head that day
and pretty much all last year (hell, actually for the past five years). Little did I know that I wasn’t alone. Granted the person I felt understood how I
felt was fictional but that didn’t matter.
I realized that every feeling I had was wrong. It didn’t matter if the world didn’t respect
me. All I needed to realize was that I
can do good in the world. One day
someone would notice and appreciate me.
Now it’s one year later and Aquaman remains one of
my favorite monthly comic books. I have
a wonderful girlfriend that I can safely say is my Mera – she loves me for me and
sticks by me even when those feelings of uselessness and apathy come back. She reminds me that I’m important and better
than I give myself credit for. (PS – she’s
not the same girl that ditched the blind date – in case you were
wondering). I have a better outlook on
life and look forward to what the future holds for the two of us. All of this started with this issue:
Thank you Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado, Rod
Reis, and everyone at DC Comics for keeping me going when I felt like the world
had forgotten me.
